Chewing gum from the 80s. How chewing gum appeared in the ussr & nbsp. "Ideologically harmful product"

Exactly 142 years ago, on December 28, 1869, William F. Sample of Ohio received a patent for chewing gum, that is, a certain combination of an inedible elastic base and various flavors and aromas suitable for chewing. And people - these ruminant creatures - got the opportunity to shove into their mouths not anyhow, but what in the USSR later called "chewing gum", she is "chewing gum", she is "chewing gum", she is "gum", she is ".
Since during the chewing process all the gum flavors gradually dissolve, after which the base becomes tasteless, in the 80s all over the world chewing gum was usually thrown away after some chewing. But not in the USSR ... In the Soviet Union, they shared chewed gum with friends, not giving a damn about the fact that "a microbe comes out of mouth to mouth," and chewed, chewed, chewed until it began to break down into some completely inelastic fibers. But even then they did not throw it away, but they certainly stuck it somewhere.

In the Soviet Union, chewing gum was surprisingly sacred: people wanted to chew it, they chewed it. In fact, it didn't matter what you chew (craftsmen made homemade gum from toothpaste, baking it on a conventional radiator). The very process of chewing symbolized the chewing's involvement in some foreign sacrament.
Anyone who traveled abroad tried to bring chewing gum as a souvenir to friends, relatives or those who were for him in the Union the right person... Before leaving for the USSR, foreigners stuffed their pockets, folders, briefcases with chewing gum, and then gave it to our citizens and pioneers. One Soviet black man once told me that most of all then he was "bothered" not with exclamations: "Look, Manya, the negro went", but the children who took him for a foreigner with their boring requests: "Uncle, give me some chewing gum."

V Soviet schools a real war was waged with this fashion: the teachers of the elementary grades were told that from the swallowed gum the priest could stick together, the more distrustful pupils of middle school age - that the process of chewing on an empty stomach secretes gastric juice into it, which contributes to the development of stomach ulcers and gastritis. Well, the very distrustful high school students were proved that this was terribly unaesthetic, and the Soviet girl chewing gum is very similar to a ruminant called "cow".
By the way, many people still believe in the Soviet delusion that chewing gum has been digested in the stomach for 7 years. In fact, chewing gum is somewhat more difficult for the stomach to digest than organic food, but chewing gum is digested and excreted in the same way as regular food, but about the harmfulness of chewing gum on an empty stomach - this is the truth.

Seeing a chewing student, the teachers forced him to spit out the contents of his mouth into the nearest bucket for washing the floors (and there were such buckets in almost every class), and when the teacher appeared, it was considered a special hooliganism and malicious cynicism to start vigorously chewing empty air in his mouth, and in response to the teacher's request spit out the gum - show that there is nothing in the mouth.
Therefore, Soviet schoolchildren were torn apart by passions, wherever Shakespearean. On the one hand, having gum, I wanted to walk around the school and defiantly chomp loudly, arousing the genuine interest of fellow practitioners in the contents of my mouth. On the other hand, one had to be careful so that a passing teacher did not force him to spit out this treasure.

And then chewing treasures were like this:


Soviet chewing gum - the most, of course, not prestigious. In the USSR, there were five main types of them: "Orange" - with sourness, the taste of which ended in five minutes; "Strawberry" and "Raspberry" - sweetish, the taste of which lasted for about ten minutes; the most stable in taste is “Mint”; and the nastiest "Coffee aroma", from which some children had high blood pressure and headaches. But for some adults, "Coffee" chewing gum was very much appreciated - it was believed that it repels the smell of fumes. This happiness cost 50 kopecks. for a pack of 5 pcs. and were even sold in kiosks "Soyuzpechat". Plus, we have rare Baltic gum for 15 kopecks per pillow, and very rare Georgian and Armenian gum.
Soviet chewing gums were denser than foreign ones, and although their taste disappeared very quickly, they took longer to chew. Due to their density, they did not inflate into a bubble, but if you mix a piece of butter with chewing gum and chew, then this shortcoming of them was corrected and after that they inflated a little.
And to give the lost taste, the chewing gum was also mixed with sugar or jam. To chew the gum for several days, she lay down at night either in the refrigerator or in a glass of water.To show off and make the Soviet gum look like an imported multi-colored gum, it was painted with ink from a ballpoint pen of different colors or crushed leads of colored pencils.

The chewing gum of the countries of the socialist camp is mostly Polish and the best is "Bolek and Lelek" with a series of inserts containing fragments from the cartoon, which were of great collectible value for some. Well, the Czech "Pedro" - they were given out as the cheapest prize and sold in the touring "Luna Parks" from Czechoslovakia, first for 50 kopecks, and then for a ruble. And rare Bulgarian "Ideal".


Turkish gum - first "Turbo" for one and a half rubles with a fruity aroma and inserts with cars, the power and exclusivity of which, when exchanged, determined how "expensive" the insert was. For some reason, "Turbo" was most often traded in the Union by gypsies. Then in the early 90s - "Love Is ..." with inserts about the relationship between a boy and a girl and a short definition of love like "Love is ... giving her all your salary and not sleeping with her girlfriends."
Well, about the rest of the chewing gum in the form of cigarettes, or the Donald Duck chewing gum, or Tutti-Frutti, or the Wrigley chewing gum sold in Berezki, and so on, remember yourself.

Surprisingly appearing in children, wrappers and gum inserts turned into a fetish. Gum wrappers were known as "labels" or "candy wrappers". But above them were valued "inserts" - different pictures embedded in chewing gum. They were collected, they were changed, they were ... stolen. They could even be sold. Moreover, the matter was not limited to ordinary collecting, and in parallel with it, the "game of candy wrappers" came into fashion. It was played like this (variations are possible):
1) Two players stand near the windowsill and each chooses a candy wrapper of approximately equal value from his collection.
2) The first player (the owner of the wrapper, whose value is recognized above) slaps his palm with a slap on his wrapper trying to launch it into the air so that it turns over with its reverse side.
3) If he succeeds, then he gets the right to hit the opponent's wrapper.
4) If the player manages to turn over the opponent's label, it becomes his property.
Surprisingly, this game was elevated to the rank of gambling, players in schools were caught, collected materials were taken away and severely punished up to the summons of parents to school. However, candy wrappers were still cut in minutes of change, trying to win some unique insert with a machine that is only one in the whole school. And in the classroom, in moments of boredom, they looked at stories from the life of Donald Duck.
But childhood, alas, does not last long.

: https://p-i-f.livejournal.com

Today you will not surprise anyone with chewing gum: it is available literally on every corner with different tastes, aromas, shapes in bright packages. However, there were times when chewing gum was in short supply in our country. In the 70s, the children of the USSR were seized by a boom in "long-playing rubber": the eyes of children lit up at the sight of a peer moving his jaws and blowing bubbles. Liners and wrappers have become collectibles, exchanges, and games.

I must say that the hobby for "chewing" was not encouraged. Pioneer organizations, Komsomol committees, administration educational institution... The conversation usually went about the bad influence of Western licentiousness, lack of culture and, worst of all, the dangers of chewing gum for health. A myth was spread about the formation of holes in the stomach from empty chewing. In the Soviet Union, chewing gum was not produced, and it appeared exclusively from abroad. Until one event happened, unfortunately, a tragic one.

In the spring of 1975, friendly matches of youth ice hockey teams between teams from the Soviet Union and Canada took place in Moscow. Canadian hockey players with 15-kilogram boxes of gum arrived in the country of socialism. Under the terms of the sponsor of the Barry Cup team - the manufacturer of Wrigley gum, players were required to give away gum products for free.

Several matches passed without significant incidents. More than 4 thousand fans gathered for the third meeting of hockey players at the Sokolniki Sports Palace, most of whom were of school age. Rumors about generous gifts from foreigners have already spread among the guys, and they came for a tasty treat. Distribution of presents began after the end of the game, when the athletes went down to their buses. The records began to be thrown onto balconies where spectators crowded.

Many gifts did not reach their destination, but fell to the ground. The audience had no choice but to start going down. But no one thought that the lower exit would be closed ... The crush began. The people who were at the top were pressing on the lower ones, but instead of moving forward, there was a hard ramming ... Two dozen people died - 13 of them were children.

Our media did not write a single line about the tragic event. It was only known that the director of the Palace and the head of the district police department were sentenced to prison for irresponsibility and negligence. The tragedy was the impetus for the government's decision to start producing chewing gum in the USSR in order to prevent the "insanity" of young people.

The first plant appeared in Yerevan. It was 1976. Then a factory was opened in Rostov-on-Don (converted from pasta). First, the production of two types of gum was launched: fruit and mint. Gradually the assortment became wider thanks to the appearance of workshops at the Rot Front candy factory.

One whole pack (five pieces) cost 60 kopecks. Over time, chewing gum could be purchased one at a time.

Only in 2013, a memorial plaque was erected at the Sokolniki stadium in memory of the tragic day (more than 30 years have passed). This, indeed, should not happen again!

After discussion at the government level, given the upcoming 1980 Olympics, it was decided to launch the production of domestic chewing gum. This, it was believed, would help reduce the excitement around imported gum.

In 1976, the first chewing gum production line was launched in Yerevan. The second line appeared at a pasta factory in Rostov-on-Don. At first, there were only two types of products: "Chewing gum" with a fruity taste and "Well, Wait!" with mint. Later, the Kalev confectionery factory in Tallinn began to produce Apelsinovaya and Mintnaya chewing gums. The plates of this gum were rectangles with longitudinal grooves, which were conveniently divided into five parts. They were sold in wax paper wrappers with patterns on foil. One such package cost 20 kopecks.

In the 1980s, the Rot Front Moscow factory already produced five types of chewing gum: Mint, Orange, Strawberry, Raspberry and Coffee Aroma. At first, gum was sold in packs of five strips at a price of 60 kopecks per pack. But the manufacturers did not take into account that the consumers of chewing gum were mainly the younger generation, for which such a cost was too high. Soon the price was reduced to 50 kopecks per pack and began to sell the gum in pieces by the piece.

Today it is not a problem to buy both domestic and imported chewing gum in retail outlets - for every taste and wallet. By the way, in April 2013, at the Sokolniki stadium, a memorial plaque was hung in memory of the victims of the tragedy of 1976, who actually gave their lives for Soviet people could enjoy the "forbidden" product.

Hello friends!

Today I will tell you the true story of chewing gum in the USSR.

It is often written on the Internet that the first chewing gum in the USSR was Estonian, others (even in Wikipedia it is indicated so) that the chewing gum was released for the first time in Armenia. Yes, these Soviet republics took a direct part in the creation of a new product.
Let's try to trace the order of events contributing to the emergence of chewing gum in the Soviet Union. At the time of this writing, I, as before, am in search of information about chewing gum during the USSR period, and if you have information that will supplement mine, or if you see inaccuracies, write to me.

Perhaps the first chewing gum was seen by our soldiers when they entered Berlin. In 1945, having met with the allied forces of the United States and Great Britain, our soldiers could well try this new product for that time. Of course, even before the Great Patriotic people it was known to chew on resin, wax, or lard. The very word “chewing gum” was also known, just look at the poster of the early 20th century.

But we are talking about a separate product that is produced industrially for use by the population. After the war, chewing gum quickly conquered the vastness of Europe, and production appeared in Spain, Italy, Holland and the German Democratic Republic. Already by the beginning of the 60s, some countries friendly The Soviet Union are making their own attempts to make their own chewing gum. By that time, there was already an arms race, space exploration, and tough agitation against the imperialists and other allies of the United States. Chewing gum is banned, since by that time it was already a direct attribute of an American. It's no joke - by that time they have had chewing gum for more than 100 years!

In Estonia, in the city of Tallinn, there is (to this day) the confectionery factory "Kalev".
This enterprise regularly supplies various confectionery products, chocolate, marmalade, caramel and other sweets to all the republics of the union. At the beginning of 1967, the management of Kalev decided to master the release of a new product, similar to the well-known in the USA and Europe “chewing gum” (at that time the well-known phrase “chewing gum” did not exist). Presumably on April 30, 1967, the first batch of Kalev chewing gum was released; the Estonians called the new product a name that was difficult to translate. Tiri-aga-Tõmba.

The oldest worker of the Kalev factory, Otto Kubo, who is now the head of the Kalev Museum, says:

“One day in 1967 I was walking with my friend the photographer Tõnu Talivee, and so I got out a gum. Unfolding, I found that it was impossible to split the gum in half, it was so hard. Precisely because the gum was poorly chewed, stretched, it was taken out of production. Fuel was added to the fire by Academician Petrovsky, who was asked from above to give a "truthful" conclusion about the dangers of chewing gum. "

Kalev's management attempted to bring back improved chewing gum production with the help of astronauts. Kalev was then led by the very energetic headmistress Edda Vladimirovna Maurer, a member of the Soviet Women's Committee. Through Valentina Tereshkova, she went to the astronauts. As you know, astronauts in zero gravity have problems with oral cavity sanitation: toothpaste in zero gravity always leaks out of the mouth and flies away. In addition, the cosmonauts periodically visited the observatory in the city of Tyravere, and the management of the factory managed to invite the cosmonauts to visit through the Central Committee of the Estonian Communist Party. Cosmonaut Grechko in the visitors' book expressed "special gratitude for the chewing gum." And he expressed a desire for Kalev to deliver more of his products on board to the astronauts. After that, "Tiri-aga-tymba" was sent to the scientific laboratory of the space center. Doctor of Medical Sciences General V. Kustov concluded that the rubber band "helps to equalize the barometric pressure in the middle ear cavity during the ascents and descents of aircraft", "reduces the intensity of smoking by 26.4% and drowsiness" and generally has a positive effect "in the conditions of special facilities" ...

Chewing gum was never allowed, although they say that chewing gum was still made for the needs of pilots and astronauts.

A new round in the life of chewing gum appeared after the tragic events of 1975

of the year. On March 10, 1975, the third match of the USSR junior national team's series against Canadian peers, united under the name Barrie Coop, took place on the ice arena. It is worth noting that the Canadian team was sponsored by Wrigley, a giant in the chewing gum industry. Throughout all the games, the Canadian guests treated our Soviet guys to Wrigley's records. Many who lived in the USSR at that time knew that chewing gum was considered something overvalued, a scarce commodity! The rumor that visiting guests generously treated them to unknown chewing gum quickly became known. Many schoolchildren, boys and girls from 11 to 16 years old came to the Sokolniki Sports Palace for the match.

After the third match, someone from the Canadian team threw a handful of chewing gum on the podium, instantly a bunch of children formed, everyone wanted to get the coveted chewing gum. The Sokolniki administration saw that the guests took up their photo and video cameras and ordered to turn off the lighting. In the dark, people fell on each other, stumbled, a crush formed. According to official data, 21 people died, of which more than half were children. This incident did not appear in the media and was not written about it; everyone who witnessed the incident was interrogated and, under signature, was forbidden to talk about the incident. I know that the foreign press covered these events, but I did not find the sources. If anyone has old newspapers on this topic, write to me.
Despite the fact that the incident was not written in the newspapers and was not shown on the news. Soviet citizens became aware of these events, unrest arose, to which the authorities had to somehow react. It was then that one of the high-party leaders declared: "Our children will not sell for foreign gum, we have our own chewing gum, and we will fully provide our children with it." (I have not yet found a documentary source, it is known that this problem about gum was covered by newspapers and radio, if you have material or know where to look, write to me).
These terrible events pushed the USSR to study a new product and begin research in the field of making the first Soviet chewing gum.

By that time, there was already a patent under number 428736 about the simplest recipe for the manufacture of chewing gum. The recipe was improved and in 1975-76 new patents 644450 and 685269 were applied. Already in 1977 a conveyor was launched in Yerevan at the “Yerevan Sweets” factory. The TU code was indicated on the wrappers (at that time TU 18-8-6-76 and TU 18-8-8-76). (If you have information about this factory, about the release of this gum, write to me the documentation on the TU codes).

A year later, by the beginning of 1978, the Kalev factory in Estonia produced the first chewing gum intended for
export. (Watch the documentary video above)

The Olympic Games were on the way, and the release of the gum was an important step for the country's leadership. Chewing gum with the symbols of the Olympics began to be produced back in 1978 with TU 18-8-6-76. By 1983, almost everyone had mastered the production of chewing gum. big cities, chewing gum was produced in sugar factories, bakeries, pasta factories and other enterprises. Various chewing gum appeared, which were also sold in pharmacies. Chewing gum "Gamibazin" was created to combat nicotine addiction. After the above TUs, OST 18-331-78 was introduced, which operated from 01.12.78 to 01.12.83.

Since 1983, a new TU 10.04.08.32-89 was introduced, which lasted until 1995
and actually became the last in the USSR
Now we know at least 250 different wrappers from the Soviet gum!
This area is of interest to collectors, new wrappers are often found, and the interest only increases.
On this wonderful forum - this topic is discussed.

After the collapse of the USSR, numerous factories stopped their production of gum, a stream of gum poured into the country from Turkey, Iran, Pakistan, which finally displaced the production of its own gum. The last chewing gum of the PrJSC was released by the Moscow factory "Rot-Front" Perhaps this gum still caught the period of the USSR a little, but the bulk of this gum was released already in the new Russia.

Video review about Soviet chewing gum in 2 parts:

Part 1 - Chewing gum of the USSR

You will learn the story about the appearance of gum in the USSR

Part 2 - Chewing gum of the USSR

You will remember what gum were, how they looked.

Below are photos of Soviet chewing gum from a personal collection:

Chewing gum in the Soviet Union was a kind of cult product. Because of its popularity in the West, it was considered a "bourgeois" symbol and was subjected to ideological persecution. The tragic events forced the Soviet government to launch the production of chewing gum in its own country ...

"Ideologically harmful product"

For a long time, chewing gum in the USSR was only imported. In the 70s, she became a real cult object among children and adolescents. Someone brought it from abroad, someone even begged for chewing gum from foreigners. In addition to the pleasant taste, the imported gum was colorfully decorated, and inside the package there were also insert pictures depicting cartoon and comic book characters, football players, cars ... Children exchanged wrappers and inserts with each other, collected them, played games with candy wrappers, and one gum could chewing with the whole company - no one thought about the hygienic side.

The authorities and educators discouraged these hobbies. Schoolchildren who chewed or manipulated gum wrappers and inserts could even get pummeled at a pioneer meeting for "worshiping the West." Moreover, it was constantly said that chewing gum is harmful - for the stomach, etc., although in fact this turned out to be an unfounded myth.

Tragedy in Sokolniki

On March 10, 1975 in Moscow, at the Sokolniki Sports Palace, a friendly ice hockey match was held between juniors of Canada and CSKA. The Canadian team was sponsored by Wrigley, one of the largest chewing gum manufacturers. After the competition, going down to the bus, the Canadians began to scatter gum around the plate. The fans quickly got their bearings and rushed headlong down the steep stone stairs to pick up the deficit.

The administration of the sports palace ordered to turn off the light, as it was afraid that all this would be filmed on cameras and get into the foreign press, and to lock the metal door leading to the street. In the darkness, people began to stumble, fall on each other. Only according to official data, 21 people died, 13 of whom were minors. Another 25 people were injured.

Of course, there was a serious trial. The director of the Sports Palace Alexander Borisov, his deputy, as well as the head of the local police department, who was responsible for order during the match, received prison sentences for negligence. True, in December of the same year they were amnestied. The building of the sports palace was closed for a lengthy reconstruction.

In the media, according to the customs of that time, the incident was forbidden to cover. All eyewitnesses were interrogated and forced to write a nondisclosure agreement. However, unrest began among the people.

Give me Soviet chewing gum!

After discussion at the government level, given the upcoming 1980 Olympics, it was decided to launch the production of domestic chewing gum. This, it was believed, would help reduce the excitement around imported gum.

In 1976, the first chewing gum production line was launched in Yerevan. The second line appeared at a pasta factory in Rostov-on-Don. At first, there were only two types of products: "Chewing gum" with a fruity taste and "Well, Wait!" with mint. Later, the Kalev confectionery factory in Tallinn began to produce Apelsinovaya and Mintnaya chewing gums. The plates of this gum were rectangles with longitudinal grooves, which were conveniently divided into five parts. They were sold in wax paper wrappers with patterns on foil. One such package cost 15 kopecks.

In the 1980s, the Rot Front Moscow factory already produced five types of chewing gum: Mint, Orange, Strawberry, Raspberry and Coffee Aroma. At first, gum was sold in packs of five strips at a price of 60 kopecks per pack. But the manufacturers did not take into account that the consumers of chewing gum were mainly the younger generation, for which such a cost was too high. Soon the price was reduced to 50 kopecks per pack and began to sell the gum in pieces by the piece.